A question about two texts tests how one author would respond to another’s claim. Start with the question to find who answers whom and the claim being judged. Put each author’s claim and the reason behind it in a few words. If one text gives a general warning, ask how it applies to the other text’s specific case. Decide where the authors agree or disagree, then check the reason, because agreement or disagreement alone isn’t enough.
Hints
- Hint 1
Sato is the one answering Marcus. Find Marcus’s reason for treating the diaries as trustworthy.
- Hint 2
Look at Sato’s example and his final observation. What does each say about how a diary entry gets written?
- Hint 3
Marcus links daily writing with an unfiltered record. Test that link against Sato’s final sentence.
Step-by-step
Apply the caution to the claim
Step 1Find Marcus’s reason
Start with how would Sato most likely respond to Marcus’s reliance: we’re judging Marcus’s claim from Sato’s view. Why does Marcus trust the diaries? She says the entries were written daily, so they captured events before memories faded and preserve an unfiltered, chronological record of events. Because of that, she trusts them over later newspaper reports.
- Step 2
Connect Sato’s two concerns
What can affect a diary’s account, according to Sato? Explorers often revised their journals after the journey, changing brief notes into polished stories that made them look brave. His final sentence adds the harder point: entries written in the field could also reflect a wish to present themselves favorably to future readers. Daily writing doesn’t guarantee an unfiltered record, because the writer may already be shaping the account to make a good impression.
- Step 3
Find Sato’s view and its limits
How far does Sato’s caution go? He would reject Marcus’s confidence in an unfiltered record, without saying the diaries are useless. The response about most objective records available clashes with his warning that diaries rarely offer a transparent window onto historical reality. The response about translation adds a problem neither text discusses.
- Step 4
Match the reason to the claim
Which reason addresses diaries as authoritative historical evidence? The response about diaries being valuable precisely because they reveal biases gives them a use Sato never argues for. The response that Marcus overestimates the diaries’ reliability challenges the reliability she claims, and revise or consciously shape covers both concerns Sato raises. Choice C.